Category Archives: Quartz

Hey Netflix: Be a Hero and Buy ‘The Interview’ from Sony

netflix the interview

Well, that escalated quickly. In light of Sony’s announcement yesterday that it had officially canceled The Interview’s Christmas Day release, and “has no further release plans for the film,” I made a bold suggestion at Quartz: Netflix should save the day, and strike a blow against the hackers who have humiliated Hollywood. As I wrote,

Netflix, which doesn’t have a presence in Asia, is more protected from political fallout than the other multinational companies involved in this controversy. And the film’s marketing budget could be nonexistent. Instead, all of those celebs who decried Sony’s decision yesterday would suddenly become Netflix’s biggest cheerleaders, and the company would find itself with an army of enthusiastic—and free!—celebrity spokesmen, not to mention the invaluable free media coverage.

The company has long made a habit of rescuing discarded TV shows, including Arrested Development, The Killing, and Longmire, the canceled Western crime drama it picked up just last month from A&E. But now it could take things to the next level, and rescue a huge holiday movie.

Time and again, Netflix has proven itself to be fearless and hasn’t hesitated to make big deals that have upended the entertainment industry. Now it’s time for the company to step up to the plate again.

Hey Netflix: Be a hero and buy ‘The Interview’ from Sony

What Netflix, HBO, Amazon, Showtime and the Rest of TV Need to Resolve to Do in 2015

2015 resolutions

It seems like just yesterday that I had written five 2014 resolutions for the TV industry. But it’s already time to look ahead to 2015, which I did today for Quartz. (First, however, I took stock of how my 2014 resolutions turned out — not too shabby!)

This year, instead of making resolutions for the entire industry to follow, I created specific ones for the industry’s major players. For example, for Hulu:

Hulu: Don’t get left in the dust by Netflix and Amazon

In 2014, Hulu made some big moves to try and stay in the race with Netflix and Amazon, including an $80 million-plus deal acquiring the rights to all seasons of South Park and ordering three new series produced by the likes of J.J. Abrams, Jason Reitman and Amy Poehler. But those new shows, and South Park, need to deliver, and make Hulu a worthy streaming competitior. Oh, and Hulu, you know how you’ve been considering cutting back the number of ads running on Hulu Plus? Do that. Immediately.

I hope my 2015 resolutions fare as well as the 2014 ones did!

 What Netflix, HBO, Amazon, Showtime and the rest of TV need to resolve to do in 2015

The Future of TV is Here: Netflix and Amazon Will Face Off for a Golden Globe

The marquee of United Artists theater is seen during Amazon's premiere screening of "Transparent" at the Ace Hotel in downtown Los Angeles

It was a very good morning for Amazon, which received 2 Golden Globe nominations for Transparent, its first great series. As I wrote at Quartz, it’s the first major award nominations ever for Amazon, and something that the company — and Amazon Studios director Roy Price — have been pursuing for a long while:

It represents an important step forward for the upstart content provider, in its quest to join the ranks of television’s most respected outlets.

While insisting that he wasn’t solely competing with Netflix, Amazon Studios director Roy Price told me last summer that receiving recognition from a major awards body (as Netflix had been doing since last year’s Emmys) was very important to the company. “It could be great for us, and it gives the part of the audience that hasn’t tried the shows yet an idea that people are responding well to these shows,” Price said. “So, we’d love to see some love from the Emmys or the [Golden] Globes.”

Even better, the streaming outlet will be facing off directly against Netflix, as both are nominated in the best musical/comedy series category, for Transparent and Orange is the New Black. In the story, I also explain why Transparent and/or Tambor have a very good chance to go home with a Golden Globe on Jan. 11.

The future of TV is here: Netflix and Amazon will face off for a Golden Globe

Forget beating HBO: Netflix just revealed it has much bigger goals in mind

forget-beating-hbo

I was very surprised by the announcement late Friday night that Netflix had acquired NBC’s midseason comedy Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, one of the NBC shows I was most looking forward to this season. Two days earlier, it had picked up the high-rated but old-skewing Longmire, which A&E had canceled after three seasons. In my Quartz analysis, I noted,

Gone are the days where Netflix tried to make a splash with programming you couldn’t find anywhere else on TV, most notably Orange is the New Black. While cable networks like USA and AMC are trying to save themselves by retrenching and focusing on what they do best, Netflix is taking the opposite approach: it wants to be everything to everyone.

For years, Netflix had said its goal was “to become HBO faster than HBO can become us.” But now, it has even loftier ambitions: it wants to be all things to all people.

Forget beating HBO: Netflix just revealed it has much bigger goals in mind

Sorry, Netflix: Serial Proves That the Best Shows Shouldn’t Be Binged On

dickens-plate-serial

Like everyone I know, and more than 1.4 million others around the world, I’m hopefully addicted to the podcast Serial, fall’s most riveting show. (Episode 9 is less than 24 hours away!) As I wrote at Quartz,

It’s also captured our imagination in a way no TV show has done this fall, and has the kind of deafening buzz and rabid fan base that any series would kill for. The unlikely global phenomenon is also the strongest proof in years that taut, weekly storytelling trumps the increasingly-popular binge-watching method that Netflix helped pioneer.

While my own tweets occasionally flourish and become stories, in this case I was inspired by a tweet from someone else, Veep actor Timothy Simons:

That crystallized something I’d been thinking about myself, and gave me the perfect opportunity to finally write the anti-binging story (at least when it comes watching TV’s best shows) that I’ve been mulling for months.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go back to counting down the minutes until Episode 9 of Serial drops!

Sorry, Netflix: Serial Proves That the Best Shows Shouldn’t Be Binged On

Why Kim Kardashian is the World’s Best Marketer

kim-kardashian

If you told me I’d be writing a story A) praising Kim Kardashian B) for Quartz C) calling her “brilliant” and admiring her “acumen,” I would have said you’d lost your mind. But I surrendered this week after she shared images from her racy Paper magazine cover, and successfully got the entire world (well, at least the internet) talking about her once again, whether people wanted or not. And then, 24 hours later, she did it all again by releasing even more explicit photos from the shoot. As I wrote at Quartz,

That’s why it’s time to stop making fun of her and start taking her seriously, if not as a reality star, than at least as a masterful businesswoman and marketer.

I’d wavered on suggesting this story — I can’t imagine her name had ever appeared in a Quartz story before today — but I’m glad that I went ahead with it. Also, this is probably the only story written about her this week that didn’t include the words “butt,” “ass,” “oil” or “full frontal” — but it’s worth a read anyway!

Why Kim Kardashian is the World’s Best Marketer 

Why You Shouldn’t Get Too Excited About Marvel and DC’s Long-Term Movie Plans

marvel-characters1

Yesterday, Marvel announced its Phase Three slate of films, two weeks after DC Comics unveiled its own ambitious lineup, stretching into 2020. Both announcements whipped fans into a frenzy, but as I wrote at Quartz, you shouldn’t start locking in your 2019 plans just yet:

It’s a potentially thrilling lineup of films to anticipate for many, many years to come. And there’s admittedly a lot to be excited about, particularly the introduction of Marvel’s first female (Captain Marvel) and black (Black Panther) superhero standalone films. Yet at the same time, there’s also a very real chance that despite all these company’s meticulous long-term plans, one—or all—of these franchises could veer wildly off-course, as soon as one of these films stumbles at the box office.

Why you shouldn’t get too excited about Marvel and DC’s long-term movie plans

The ‘Avengers 2’ trailer was supposed to save ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Oops.

agents-of-shield-1

Last night’s leak of the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer was bad news for Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which was supposed to debut the trailer during next Tuesday’s episode.  As I wrote at Quartz:

The leak eliminated what might have been Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s last, best hope to win back at least part of its initial audience. Because once viewers check out of a show—as they did during the show’s rocky first season—they rarely return to give it a second chance.

Marvel finally gave in and…

The ‘Avengers 2’ trailer was supposed to save ‘Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ Oops.

Hollywood Won’t Stop Until it Turns Every Movie Into a TV Series

minority-report

What’s the opposite of “great minds think alike”? In the past month, the broadcast networks have announced plans to turn 10(!) movies into potential series. As I wrote at Quartz,

Hollywood apparently won’t stop until it turns every movie into a series. It’s the strongest indication yet that there are no original ideas left among the broadcast networks, which already packed this fall’s television lineup with comic-book adaptations and spinoffs.

Hollywood won’t stop until it turns every movie into a TV series

Cable Networks Will Save Themselves by Focusing on What They Do Best

cable networks will save themselves

Just nine months ago, USA President Chris McCumber was talking to me about his network’s push into comedy, and preaching patience. Looks like his patience has worn thin, because USA announced that it is retreating from comedy and refocusing on drama, while AMC has pulled the plug on almost its entire reality slate as it, too, opts to concentrate on what it does best. As I explained at Quartz,

Those surprising moves were in part explained by a Wall Street Journal report that the US top 40 most widely distributed cable channels in 2010—USA and AMC included—have lost an average of 3.2 million subscribers, or more than 3% of their distribution, during the last four years, as consumers have starting “shaving the cord” by opting for smaller, cheaper bundles of channels.

Intent on not being shaved out of existence, networks are refocusing on keeping their core audiences happy, rather than trying and attract new viewers. “In an environment of exploding content options for viewers,” AMC said in explaining its decision, “we have decided to make scripted programming our priority.”

Both networks damaged their core business by taking their eye off the ball, and their sudden retrenching should also be a red flag for E! and Bravo, which are both branching into scripted series for the first time.

Cable networks will save themselves by focusing on what they do best